Smyrna times., 1887-04-06
WHOLE NO. 1854.
RELIGIOUS SCENES IN CHINA.
A Picturesque Church Beggar-CarrylnR
Out a Dreadful Vow.

Out a Dreadful Vow.
Church begging is very common in
China. The temples advertise their
wants by posting on walls in the neigh
bOrh0Od square pieces of yellow paper,
whereon is the exact Chinese equivalent
Of the scriptural ASK and thou shalt re-
ceive, together with the name and lOca-
ton of the temple where prayers are
always answered.
but there are also more personal forms
Of begging. The writer has seen in Pc
king a priest whose cheeks bad been
pierced, and the teeth knocked out. so
that an iron rod, as large as ones middle
finger, could be passed through. to pro-
]ect an inch or two beyond either cheek.
An iron half circle was hinged to each
end Of this and passed around the back
OF the priests head. Attached to the
half circle was an iron chain which was
so long as to drag on the ground several
feet behind him.
His business was to go from house to
house, beating a small drum, asking help
to repair a temple. Sympathy would be
wasted on him. He was professional
church debt litter, who had monthly
wages and a commission on his col
lections-and the rod and chain were his
stock in trade.
There Is another way, still more pecu-
liar. A priest stands in a small box-like
structure, placed in fIont of a temple,
through the boards of which spikes have
been driven, so that the imprisoned priest
can move no part of his body, except his
right arm, without being pricked by
spike. With his right hand he rings
bell to draw attention to his pitiable con-
dltlon. Charitable persons give so much
for the privilege Of drawing out spike.
The highest priced spikes are those
which point at the vital parts of the
body. The priest is supposed to stand in
his kennel day and night until all the
spikes have been bought and drawn, but
no one believes that he really does so.
A single incident will show how much
hardship and self inflicted suffering some
Of these heather will undergo to fulfill a
religious vow. One intolerably hot and
dusty afternoon in 1921 the writer was
resting at wayside tea house and saw
approaching a man and a woman. The
man would first take one long step, then
bring his other foot up and measure his
whole length in the road.
Having knocked his head three times
on the ground, he rose, took another step,
and again Frustrated himself. The
woman was the mans wife, and was
waiting upon him. In answer to ques-
tions, he said that he had made a vow
that if Buddha would restore to health
his son, who was desperately sick, he
would make pilgrimage to Wu-tai-shan
and home again, a step and prcstration
all the way.
Not more than three miles could be
made i'll day. He had travelled about
600 of the 1000 miles of the double Jour
ney, and would be two years longer in
completing his vow. AS he was rs years
old, and almost worn out, it was easy to
see that he would not live to fulfill it. A
callOus lump as large as an egg projected
from his forehead, Taised by his knocking
his head upon the dusty road. Yet this
man was shocked aud angry at sugges-
ton that he should abandon his useless
pilgrimage, and passed out of sight meas
uring the road with his infirm bodv,-
Youths Companion.